‘Huge doubt over here’: Why the Wallabies have English rugby nervous

London: What a difference a year makes. Last November, former England halfback Ben Youngs stoked the fire ahead of the Wallabies’ visit to Twickenham, dismissing the visitors’ chances of victory on his podcast, saying: “Australia, don’t waste my time.”

Youngs ate humble pie after the Wallabies’ stunning victory, and now the narrative has changed significantly in London. Former England and Lions winger Ugo Monye believes that writing off the Wallabies has proven a fool’s errand.

“They’re a team that’s had to live with a narrative maybe for the last year or so, where people just write them off,” said Monye, who has also worked as a commentator.

“I think at times people have been borderline disrespectful [to the Wallabies]. I remember heading down to the [British and Irish] Lions series and chatting to a load of Lions fans, and they’re like ‘this will be 3-0’, and I’m like, no, no, this is a very good Australian side.

“Then I remember off the back of the Lions, people saying: ‘This Australian team aren’t any good, yeah, they won that last Test, but there was nothing on the line’. Then the Wallabies go to South Africa, and everyone woke up and put some respect on them.

“So if that’s the narrative [of writing off Australia] coming into this weekend, let me just cast your minds back to South Africa, where they won there for the first time in 60 years and inflicted the biggest points margin on a South African team for years, they’re a very good team.”

Former World Cup winner Ben Kay is just as nervous about a Wallabies team that he believes can turn in another strong performance at Twickenham, despite missing centre Len Ikitau and five-eighth James O’Connor.

“You know, there is huge doubt over here about the result on Saturday,” Kay said.

“It’s a shame that Australia are missing some of their players, but equally I think the English are probably quite relieved about that, given Australia are coming off the back of a Rugby Championship and a Lions series, they’re going to be very much up to speed, and England haven’t all played together since the Six Nations.

“I think Australia always have players that scare us, I think there’s a maybe misplaced confidence that England are on the rise, but it’s a really hard first game for England to come up against a Wallabies side that can still cut you apart very, very quickly.”

England’s players spent three days in training camp last week before returning to their clubs to play. This week, they will have had another four days together before facing the Wallabies on Saturday.

Adding to some nerves around Twickenham is England’s poor recent record in their first Test in November.

Last year, they lost to the Wallabies, 2023 was a World Cup year, and in 2022, they were beaten by Argentina.

Monye believes England’s Premiership Rugby provides one answer to his country’s recent slow starts in November.

“It’s a blessing and a curse, isn’t it? We have 10 different clubs [in England], which is brilliant for strength and depth, but the reality is, you’ve got to hit the ground running and play one of the best teams in the world within seven days,” Monye said.

“So to be able to almost deconstruct all of that club thinking and get that onto one page, that is a challenge, but equally, it’s not an excuse.”

Watch all the action from the 2025 Wallabies spring tour on Stan Sport